


darling charming: the chessboard knight

by phoenixandroses



Category: Ever After High
Genre: I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied Emotional Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, darling is very gay, how does one tag, i swear darling will end up with apple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:21:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25463152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixandroses/pseuds/phoenixandroses
Summary: Darling had grown up being told that destinies had to be followed. She had enrolled in Ever After after Headmaster Grimm had "rediscovered" a fairytale called 'Princess Charming' (that Darling was 99% sure he made up) that was to be her destiny, where she was going to have to be the damsel-in-distress.Nope. Darling wasn't one for tea parties and table etiquette her mother had made sure to drill into her, preferring reading about adventurous heroes and dreaming of becoming one herself. And so when she had met the retired White Knight and found his armor, she decided to become a knight herself.After graduation, she runs off to Wonderland to try and find herself and become a hero. What now?(sorry, I suck at summaries. basically an overview of what happens to darling after ever after.)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	1. when young blood escapes (prologue)

Darling had grown up being told that destinies had to be followed. It was an oft-repeated sentiment her parents would repeatedly drill into her: when she playing house and having tea parties with other princesses as a toddler; when she was forced to take manner and etiquette lessons while her brothers trained with swords; when her dad would leave for months without contacting them and expecting to return to his dutiful, faithful wife and smiling, perfect kids; when her mother would start harshly lecturing her about her appearance after cracking open her second bottle of champagne that night; the rare times her father would seem to give a damn about her or Dex over Daring; when she first entered the grandiose halls of Ever After High.

She had enrolled in Ever After after Headmaster Grimm had "rediscovered" a fairytale called 'Princess Charming' (that Darling was 99% sure he made up) that was to be her destiny, where she would have to play the damsel-in-distress.

Nope. Darling hadn’t ever one for tea parties and table etiquette her mother had made sure to drill into her, preferring to read about adventurous heroes and dreaming of becoming one herself. And so when she had met the retired White Knight and found his armor, she decided to become a knight herself.

However, that wasn't the only thing that seemed to be wrong with her, something she discovered as she read a new fairytale in Hocus Latte called 'The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived', where the knight saved a prince and princess from a dragon but ended up marrying the prince instead.

"Good book?" Darling looked up to meet the baby-blue eyes of the blonde barista who was refiling her drink. She gestured to her name tag, playfully rolling her eyes. "I'm Judy, as you can see."

"Yeah. I'm Darling, by the way." Darling smiled back at the gorgeous blonde in front of her.

"Nice to meet you, Darling," Judy stuck out a hand, pronouncing the 'g' in Darling's name in a way that could only be described as utterly spellbinding.

"You too." Darling shook her hand, leaning back with a coy smirk into the plush leather armchair.

  
\---

  
After that day, numbers were exchanged, and Darling followed a new person on MyChapter.

After a week, Darling told her friends she was seeing someone.

After three weeks, Darling went to bed knowing she had a girlfriend.

After three happy months, Dexter found Darling sobbing into Rosabella's arms, a small locket with a miniature painting of a pretty blonde thrown carelessly on the soft white rug.

That night, Darling came out to her twin brother and roommate/best friend forever after as gay.

Two days later, she told Daring and Raven, who had been immediately supportive, and rolled her eyes when Daring asked her if it had anything to do with her wanting to fit the mold of a hero.

"No, Daring. It's just part of me. I was simply.. born this way."

\---

  
After the Evil Queen was taken down (again) and Dragon Games reestablished, the story about how Darling had saved Apple when Daring couldn't came out.

"It was just CPR," Darling would say to anyone who asked.

But there was something more there. Her image at school had been thoroughly rocked once they found out she had actually been the White Knight in Hero Training. Thankfully, no one told her parents nor the school faculty, but rumors were spread through whispers behind lockers, and stories were woven along the grapevine.

The school's power couple stayed together to preserve their image (at least until Daring left her for Rosabella), but there was something new in Apple's aquamarine-blue eyes Darling couldn't place. Something steely and sad, something that made her bite those perfectly-plump blood-red lips, something that would soften whenever she saw Darling walk by.

"Apple was supposed to be Daring's princess, wasn't she?", Darling would harshly whisper as she stroked her beloved dragon Herowing.

And yet, Darling had a crush on Apple White.

There was just something in the way her white-gold curls would bounce around when she laughed, something in how her hand would shoot up in class with the correct answer, something in how she carried herself as walked, full of determination.

"Did you hear that Daring and Apple broke up?" Someone was loudly telling their friend in the hall. "So now, there's like, ten guys who asked Apple out? And now, she's like, going out with Colton next Chapterday."

Darling ducked into the bathroom, gripping onto the sink to steady herself, staring at herself in the mirror. Pale, blue-eyed, and most infuriating, a girl. Apple would never love a girl, not in the same way she would a boy.

"But it's destiny," A part of her brain whispered at her, "Your kiss woke her when Daring's wouldn't."

“I don’t need Apple,” Darling murmured to herself. “I will become a hero in my own right, on my own.”

Darling straightened her spine, rearranging her face into a smiling mask to hide her inner turmoil, and stepped out into the cacophony of chaos that was high school.

\---

Graduation Day had arrived, full of exuberant faces and gorgeous clothing for all, Apple’s beautiful speech as class valedictorian (no surprise there) receiving tremendous applause, and the graduating students each received their diploma from the Grimms brothers and another special item: Story Cuffs.

“These Story Cuffs will track your progress in fulfilling your destinies. You each will activate them by pressing the white gemstone and declaring your name, at which point they will begin to glow until you have completed your story and achieved your ending, otherwise known as Happily Ever After. Since the Storybook of Legends was destroyed,” Headmaster Milton shot a disapproving glare at Raven who simply rolled her eyes, “This is the best way to track all of our new fairytales. Once a fairytale is complete and happily ever after achieved, the magical gemstones will be sent to Anderson’s Printery, where they will be made into new storybooks.”

Giles Grimm nudged past Milton and grabbed the microphone, yelling into it with a playful grin, “WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST OF LUCK! SCHOOL’S OUT!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Darling noted Kitty disappearing a second before bright neon confetti was showered over the new graduates. Students began to run out of the castle terrace, Briar Beauty and Maddie Hatter leading the charge. Dexter, who had been sitting to her right, grabbed her in a hug, Daring joining in from her left. As she hugged her beloved brothers, tears threatening to spill out and ruin her makeup, she knew one thing: that she was gonna live out her fairytale the way _she_ wanted to, and find her happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! this is my first fanfic. comments and feedback would be appreciated!
> 
> also, clarifications:  
> \- the bravest knight who ever lives is a real book for kids  
> \- giles is the cool gay headmaster in my headcanon  
> \- I think the dragons would stay at school so future generations could play dragon games, so except for nevermore no one would have a dragon for a pet
> 
> chapter name from sweet ophelia by zella day


	2. running in the dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> disclaimer: i don't own anything except my writing and ocs, darling charming and basically any other name you recognize belongs to their respective owners and such

Darling Charming had one thing to do before living out her fairytale. She had decided to come out to her parents.

Ever since she was a little girl playing “Knights and Dragons” with two rowdy brothers, she had known that she was going to be the hero in her own story, not the perfect, ladylike damsel in distress her mother wanted her to be. 

And part of that, it seemed, was not being attracted to boys, and instead, girls.

She had come out to her brothers around 14, who had immediately been supportive and tried to protect her by shooing away any guys who tried to woo her, playing it off as just them being protective of their little sister.

After graduation, Daring had decided to go look for adventure immediately, while Darling and Dexter wanted to head home to visit their parents first before Dexter went off to the Beauty’s University, named for its ever-so-intelligent founder, Belle Beauty of Beauty and the Beast. She knew that in her supposed fairytale that she would get kidnapped (which was why her parents left her windows wide open), and so decided to tell them after dinner. If they didn’t accept her, she thought to herself as she and Dexter sat quietly in the Hybrid Carriage to Charming Castle, she would run away at night and pretend she was kidnapped.

She had her beloved horse Sir Gallopad with her. Her armor was hidden away in the overhead compartments everyone forgot existed, her sword and shield too. 

It would be fine, Darling murmured to herself, sitting across from a sleeping Dexter. It would be fine.  
-

It was not fine.

“I don’t understand! You are supposed to be a damsel in distress and marry a prince!” Lance Charming paced around the parlor frantically as her mother sobbed dramatically on a chaise lounge.

“Did we do something wrong? Oh, this is simply tragic!” Queen Charming dabbed at her eyes daintily with a silk handkerchief.

“No, Mom! It’s just a part of who I am. Dad, shouldn’t you be happy? Now you don’t need to keep chasing away ‘would-be husbands’! Of which you don’t even chase away yourself because you’re always gone for ‘business’!” Darling stood up from her chair ever so elegantly, before continuing in her soft yet harsh manner, “I want to be a hero and I want to marry a girl and I want to write my own destiny. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Sweetheart, darling, it’s a big deal. This is your destiny! Without it, there’s no guarantee of your happily ever after!” Lance slammed the table with his fist.

“Excuse my language, but you know what’s my guarantee? This!” Darling raised her right wrist where her Story Cuff’s gemstone glowed a soft blue.

Her mother sobbed harder. “Talking back. What happened to my sweet little doll?”

“What about you, Dexter? What do you think?” Her father turned to Dexter, who had been trying to leave the room, gaze steely.

“Well, um, I think Darling should be allowed to love whoever she wants! I- I mean, it’s legal in all kingdoms, and she definitely has a point about the Story Cuff, but on the other hand, not all Stories have happy endings and you know what I’m just gonna-“ Dexter faltered under their father’s intense glare and bolted out of the room, leaving Darling on her own.

King Lance collapsed on a sofa next to his wife, rubbing his temples, before looking back up at his daughter. 

“Go to your room. You've caused enough trouble today.”

-

Darling started throwing her stuff into a duffle bag, all standard hero-quest things (that she has stocked in her room for emergencies): lanterns, matches, food, water, gold, a tent and sleeping bag, a change of clothes, and just threw in her MirrorPad as well. She had just begun to put on her armor when she heard a knock at the door, turning around to see Dexter smiling at her. He opened his arms for a hug and Darling dropped everything, running over to him and hugging her twin brother hard.

“I’m so sorry,” Dexter murmured into her hair. “Should’ve stood up for you more. Dad just scares me, and I know that's no excuse but-”

“It's okay,” Darling pulled away gently, and tilted her twin’s chin up to meet her eyes, and reassured him. “You saw him. I don't think it would've made a big difference.”

Darling turned around, gesturing to her open window and half-packed duffle bag. 

“I’m gonna run. Tell them I was kidnapped, that’s standard fairytale stuff, I’ll go back to Wonderland and figure something out there. Maybe try and explore some secrets there.”

Dexter nodded, knowing his sister would be able to handle anything. 

“I believe in you. You're awesome, and a hexcellent fighter, but you need a way to sneak out of the palace.”

“There's a secret passage through the wine cellar under the dungeons. They only use it when they need to bring in more wine for parties. Leads to the stables. I’ll pick up Gallopad, get Herowing, and fly.”

“Just come and visit sometime, won’t you?”

“Of course! And you can bet I’ll be there for your wedding to a certain purple-haired girl,” Darling smirked as her brother turned bright red and began to stammer. “Just teasing.”

Dexter took a step back as Darling pulled the duffle bag on her shoulder and grabbed her armor.

“Love you, big bro.” Darling kissed Dexter on the cheek and disappeared with a flip of her white-blue hair before her twin had time to say it back.

-

Darling had managed to slip out unnoticed, riding with Gallo until he couldn't anymore, at which point they checked into a small, rundown-looking motel. A stable boy had taken Gallo into the stables and fed him a carrot, while Darling walked into the so-called cafeteria, only to find a little pink-haired girl who couldn't have been more than twelve years old taking orders from weary patrons who looked strangely familiar.

Darling sat down at a table, still in full knightly gear, planning just pick up some food and take it to her room.

“Hi, this is the Hexed Lollipop Restaurant, my name is Cinnamon Witch. Want to hear today’s specials?” A pink-haired girl in a sprinkle-patterned skirt asked tiredly, pen poised above her notepad, lazily chewing gum.

“Yes, thank you. And if I may ask a question?” Darling politely asked, never forgetting her manners as she lowered her voice.

“Sure, go for it.”

“Can I take my food up to my room?”

“Yeah, as long as you return the plates and utensils here tomorrow. Anyway, today’s specials are garlic bread with spineapple, vegetarian castlerole, and spellybean pie. Drinks cost extra.” Cinnamon drawled.

“I’ll take the garlic bread, thank you.” Just as Cinnamon was about to leave, Darling pulled her back just as the pieces clicked together. “I’m sorry, but you seem familiar. Wait, is Ginger Breadhouse your--”

“Older sister? Yep. Breadhouse is her middle name. Mine’s Raisinbun.” Cinnamon raised an eyebrow. “You knew her?”

“Not well, but she made fable-lous food, and I’m sure you will too.”

Cinnamon’s hard expression softened. “Runs in the family. I’ll get your food and you can go eat in secret, mystery knight.”

Cinnamon giggled softly as she walked away, leaving Darling alone with her thoughts.

She had just run away from home. Her childhood fantasy (other than being allowed to take sword-training classes with Daring) was to run, away from her stiflingly overprotective father and her mother who wanted her to be a picture-perfect princess, away from a husband she would functionally just be arm candy to, away from destinies she couldn't change and fates she couldn't escape.

She had run.

She was running.

And she had never felt better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please don't hate dexter! he's just awkward and knows darling can hold her own
> 
> all the ever-afterfied words were plucked from the fandom wikia
> 
> chapter name from east of eden by zella day
> 
> comments and feedback would be appreciated!


	3. compass points you home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> disclaimer: i don't own anything except my writing and ocs, darling charming and basically any other name you recognize belongs to their respective owners and such

Darling was devastated to find that her beloved mentor, the original White Knight, had passed during her time at Ever After.

She took up residence in his small cottage house, with its yellow spiral walls and purple thatch roof, and its garden of tea shrubs. Located in the middle of nowhere, there was no one to bother her until she and Gallopad rode down a rabbit hole into Mrs. Sheep’s store or Village Forest where the Tweedles and other Wonderlandian families lived.

She loved Wonderland. It was surprisingly quiet, the chatter of the sentient roses by the upside-down-river and buzzing of the sighing gnats fading into a pleasant buzz of white noise. She could hear herself think for once, not under any pressure from judgemental classmates nor the watchful eyes of her overbearing parents. 

She didn’t know what she wanted to do, besides being a hero. And yet, she didn’t know how to get there, instead of spending her days relaxedly solving small problems for others and trying to find herself before setting off on an ever so heroic quest.

One day, after fixing a broken cupboard for Mrs. Sheep, something stood out to her. A small bottle made of pink glass embellished with silver lettering, glimmering under the sunlight as Darling picked it up and held it under the window.

“All done?” Mrs. Sheep, wrapped up in an ivory wool coat and knitting with a yarn ball bouncing along behind her.

“Yes, thank you,” Darling answered reflexively. “Oh, wait-”

“No need to thank me, hex, I should thank you,” the sheep looked over Darling, eyes wandering to the small bottle the princess had been inspecting. “Hair dye?”

“So that’s what it is? I can’t read the label,” Darling held it up once more, trying to get a better look.

“Of course you can’t, it’s written in Woollingish,” Mrs. Sheeps knitting needles clicked together.

“Huh. How much?”

\---

“Looking good, kiddo! What’s up with the new ‘do?” Chase Redford hopped off his horse, bounding toward Darling like a puppy toward his favorite toy.

Darling smiled, twirling a lock of pink hair around her finger as she slid elegantly off her horse to meet her newest friend and comrade.

She had decided to participate in the Juice and Duels event she had seen advertised from the conch shell that hand flipped inside out when she had tried to clean it after winning it from a group of squabbling land-fish (long story, don’t ask). It was mostly juice tasting with a few swords and jousting fights as entertainment.

“I thought there’d be more people,” Darling commented, gesturing at the nearly-empty buffet tables, next to a small amphitheater that had seats made out of candy and a central area of purple hay.

“Juice is a very niche thing in Wonderland. Most of us stick with good ol' tea,” Chase Redford explained from where he stood beside her, surveying the area like a guard on duty presumptively looking for immediate dangers. 

The pair had caught up after Darling fled back to Wonderland, becoming fast friends over shared interests, such as armor cleaning techniques, sword training, and embroidery. Chase was a very gentle man; with nimble, quick fingers that could do things Darling spent years perfecting (along with her delicate, fragile damsel in distress persona) after a lesson or two, loving the meticulous, quiet work and the two would occasionally just sit together, Darling repairing his armor (something Chase never learned, surprisingly, only to clean) and him embroidering another handkerchief or saddle for Gallo or a scarf for himself.

Days seemed to pass a little faster with him at her side. She mostly saw him on weekends or at night, as he still worked at Wonderland High while she lived as a wandering handygirl with dreams of knighthood. 

“Let’s just duel. No one really cares,” Chase tugged on her arm.

Darling grinned, picking up her sword and shield before twirling away and raising her sword to face him in an en garde position.

“You’re on.”

\---

Darling wandered through the Wonderland Public Library, where hollowed-out trees acted as bookshelves with rocker-horse insects fluttering from paper-thin floor to another floor made of parchment. Talking flowers grew in every other nook and cranny to judge you for your book choices and tell you where to go to find that  _ one _ specific book. Alistair and Bunny had brought it up year or two ago, mentioned in passing conversation along the towering bookshelves.

She had always been a bookworm, hiding in plush couches next to her beloved Dex, flipping through the worn pages of a fairytale Daring had been the only one tall enough to grab from the shelves in the rare time he had visited her and her twin’s favorite place in the castle.

And now, there was a whole new treasury of books to explore. She had come across a new gem the other day, a book about a County of Fairine Chess, a place known for unorthodox chess and unconventional rules, governed not by Queens and Kings like the normal chess of Chess County. 

It seemed fascinating, and right there on a whim, just as she had dyed her hair a week ago and run away to Wonderland, she decided to just screw it and with her bag on her back and her horse back home as an incentive to come back, she ran to the closest rabbit hole and jumped in, willing herself into the train station.

Gracefully landing on her own two feet in front of the ticket master, she bought a train ticket with the clinking of two ruby-red coins, plucked her ticket, and found herself sitting across from a man with white hair and a whiter suit made of paper.

Pulling out her MirrorPhone (which she rarely checked nowadays) scrolling with her thumb grazing across the screen to find several missed calls from Daring and Dex and Raven and Rosabella, all of whom she had contacted and updated on her current situation. Dex was settling in well in his studies, Raven touring the world with Maddie at her side, Rosabella working in her hometown and Daring off on his own, much like her.

Clicking off the device (that didn’t even work half the time, Wonderland had surprisingly terrible reception), resting against the warm glass of the window. As the train started chugging along the wrought-iron tracks, a pleasant and tingly feeling from her tummy tenderly filling her up, something similar to how one would feel after returning to the arms of a long-lost lover. 

Her mother, in her more sentimental, fifth-glass-of-champagne-driven moments, before she dissolved into her screaming tirades, would loudly whisper about how her children embodied three things one should trust and were therefore meant to succeed: Daring as one’s guts, Dexter as one’s brains, and Darling as one’s heart.

Darling was following her heart. Her Story Cuff hummed along to the ambient buzz of the train engine. 

  
This felt right. This felt like…  _ destiny _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter notes seem to have broken

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first fanfic, and will probably end up as a part of a series. comments and feedback would be appreciated!
> 
> also, clarifications:  
> \- in my headcanon: giles grimm is the gay fun laidback co-headmaster who favors the rebel cause.  
> \- the fairytale The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived is a real book, if not an older fairytale, and you can find it on amazon.  
> \- I think the dragons would stay at school so future generations could play dragon games, so except for nevermore no one would have a dragon for a pet
> 
> chapter name from sweet ophelia by zella day


End file.
